NASA Lunar Spacecraft Complete Prime Mission Ahead of Schedule

A NASA mission to study the moon from crust to core has completed its prime mission earlier than expected. The team of NASA's Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission, with twin probes named Ebb and Flow, is now preparing for extended science operations starting Aug. 30 and continuing through Dec. 3, 2012.
The GRAIL mission has gathered unprecedented detail about the internal structure and evolution of the moon. This information will increase our knowledge of how Earth and its rocky neighbors in the inner solar system developed into the diverse worlds we see today.
Since March 8, the spacecraft have operated around the clock for 89 days. From an orbit that passes over the lunar poles, they have collected data covering the entire surface three times. An instrument called the Lunar Gravity Ranging System onboard each spacecraft transmits radio signals that allow scientists to translate the data into a high-resolution map of the moon's gravitational field. The spacecraft returned their last data set of the prime mission today. The instruments were turned off at 10 a.m. PDT (1 p.m. EDT) when the spacecraft were 37 miles (60 kilometers) above the Sea of Nectar.
"Many of the measurement objectives were achieved from analysis of only half the primary mission data, which speaks volumes about the skill and dedication of our science and engineering teams," said Maria Zuber, principal investigator of GRAIL at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. "While there is a great deal of work yet to be done to achieve the mission's science, it's energizing to realize that what we traveled from Earth to the moon for is right here in our hands."
"GRAIL delivered to Earth over 99.99 percent of the data that could have been collected, which underscores the flawless performance of the spacecraft, instrument and the Deep Space Network," said Zuber.
Both spacecraft instruments will be powered off until Aug. 30. The spacecraft will have to endure a lunar eclipse on June 4. The eclipse and the associated sudden changes in temperature and the energy-sapping darkness that accompanies the phenomena were expected and do not concern engineers about the spacecraft's health.
"Before launch, we planned for all of GRAIL's primary mission science to occur between lunar eclipses," said David Lehman, project manager of GRAIL from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "But now that we have flown Ebb and Flow for a while, we understand them and are confident they can survive these eclipses in good shape."
The extended mission goal is to take an even closer look at the moon's gravity field. To achieve this, GRAIL mission planners will halve their current operating altitude to the lowest altitude that can be safely maintained.

UFO hovers over Jerusalem shrine

Just accept it. This wasnt a few people in a back yard. When hundreds of thousands of people see a phenomenon, thats usually what it is. These lights date back to biblical times, read your bible, My Point is. When you know its a Phenomenon. What else are you suppose to do, but stand in awe of the Majesty of Our Lord..!!!

UFO hovers over Red Square in Moscow

A mysterious pyramid shaped object is caught on camera hovering above Moscow's Red Square, where it stayed for several hours according to reports.

sketches and reports of sightings in Britain

This doughnut-shaped phenomenon was photographed by a retired RAF officer and sent to his old bosses tasked with investigating UFOs. The photographer wrote to his former colleagues at RAF Fylingdales in North Yorkshire saying: "You must admit they are unusual." The man, whose name was blanked out in the newly released documents, said: "I noticed a partial aura in the sky, a minute or so later there was a clap of thunder, then a short while later a ring like a doughnut appeared - the ring was orange in colour with a white/cream finger pushed through, the head of the column glowed an orange colour, behind the doughnut was a second cloud of colour , and a further ring of orange..."

 sketches and reports of sightings in Britain

...He added: "The only way I can describe the sighting is that of an atomic or another type of nuclear explosion, the cloud from which did not rise in the sky, but headed from the high atmosphere down toward the earth." The man took the pictures while he was on holiday in Habarana, Sri Lanka in March 2004.